According to Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson, Browns GM John Dorsey has been focused on trading for a starting-caliber offensive tackle for weeks, focusing on the Redskins, Giants and Eagles.
Dorsey’s top target is Redskins LT Trent Williams, who remains away from the team while in a dispute with the Washington organization. However, Washington has so far refused to let go of Williams and it appears that won’t change before the deadline on Tuesday, October 29.
“Dorsey has been trying to get Williams for basically six weeks,” a league source said. “But [Redskins president] Bruce Allen just refuses to trade him. It’s all Bruce. He won’t do it.”
Another source tells Robinson that Williams and the Redskins haven’t spoken in nearly a month and that at this point it’s the equivalent of a staring contest between Williams and Allen.
“It’s to the point of being a personal thing now between Trent and Bruce,” the source said. “I don’t think Bruce is going to back down from it now. It might just have to play itself out, because it’s not like Dan [Snyder] is going to intervene the way Shad Khan did with the [Jalen] Ramsey deal. Bruce is more likely to tell Dan what to do in this situation than the other way around.”
If Washington’s stance on Williams doesn’t change, Robinson reports Giants LT Nate Solder is Dorsey’s plan B because of his strong relationship with Giants GM Dave Gettleman. The two sides already pulled off one major deal this year with the trade of WR Odell Beckham.
Finally, Dorsey is also interested in Eagles backup OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who’s behind three other players on the depth chart in Philadelphia and would be more of a depth move for Cleveland.
Williams, 31, is a former first-round pick of the Redskins back in 2010. He currently in the fourth year of his five-year, $66 million contract that includes $43.25 million guaranteed and stands to make base salaries of $11 million and $12.5 million over the next two years of the agreement.
In 2018, Williams started 13 games for the Redskins. Pro Football Focus rated Williams as the No. 21 tackle out of 80 qualifying players.
Solder, 31, is a former first-round pick of the Patriots back in 2011. He played seven seasons for the Patriots before agreeing to a four-year, $62 million contract with the Giants last year.
Solder stands to make base salaries of $5.4 million and $9.9 million over the next two years of the deal.
In 2019, Solder has appeared in seven games for the Giants and made seven starts for them at left tackle. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 35 offensive tackle out of 72 qualifying players.
Vaitai, 26, was drafted by the Eagles in the fifth-round out of TCU in 2016. He’s entering the final year of his four-year, $2.56 million rookie deal and is set to make a base salary of $720,000 for the 2019 season.
In 2019, Vaitai has appeared in all seven games for the Eagles.
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